Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Crime and Punishment, the 80th Anniversary Edition

Raskolnikov
is often translated to mean “schism” or “dissent,” which made Dostoevsky’s
celebrated anti-hero a fitting role for Peter Lorre to take on soon after he
emigrated from National Socialist Germany. While Lorre had an affinity for the
existential literary source novel, the part would also foreshadow the
psychopaths and villains that would become his stock-and-trade. Mill Creek
Entertainment celebrates the eightieth anniversary of Josef von Sternberg’s Crime and Punishment with a special DVD reissue,
on-sale today.

It
was eighty years ago when Crime and
Punishment first released in theaters, but you probably thought it wasn’t a
day over seventy-five. At least eighty is a reasonably round number. Frankly,
any excuse to watch a Peter Lorre film is valid and this is a rather
interesting one his fans may not be so familiar with.

Roderick
(as he is here known) Raskolnikov is indeed a brilliant intellectual, with Nietzschean
ideas about crime and morality. He is too perversely proud to accept help from
his college friend Dmitri, opting to murder a parasitic pawnbroker instead. In
a departure from the novel, he will not be interrupted in the act by the
loathsome woman’s sister, but he still loses his superhuman cool, rushing off
without most of the crone’s money.

Much
to his surprise, Raskolnikov’s guilty conscience immediately troubles him. It only
gets worse when an innocent man is arrested for the crime. Nevertheless, he
instinctively shifts into defensive mode when the intrepid Inspector Porfiry
calls for him, again and again. Ostensibly, the copper seeks Raskolnikov’s
consultation as a brash young criminology theorist, but it is clear he suspects
the poor garret-dweller. Raskolnikov becomes increasingly isolated and
alienated, yet the fallen but still devout Sonya persistently offers him
spiritual comfort during some of his darkest hours.

All
things considered, the 1935 Crime and Punishment
is surprisingly faithful to Dostoevsky, including the various subplots
involving Raskolnikov’s sister Antonya. Still, Sternberg reportedly never liked
the film due to distinctly un-Russian flavor, references to Siberia
notwithstanding. However, the film’s ambiguous setting gives it a timeless
universality that was arguably ahead of its time. Lucien Ballard’s black-and-white
cinematography is also quite striking at times, especially for its use of
shadows and reflections.

Regardless,
everyone knows the reason to see C&P is
to watch Lorre do his thing. Of course, at the time nobody knew how many
twitchy villains he would play. In retrospect, C&P looks like something of a fork-in-the-road film, where his
future Joel Cairos and Corman Poe madmen branch off from his Brechtian
collaborations. He also happens to be terrific as the increasingly agitated
Raskolnikov, particularly in his nifty cat-and-mouse scenes with the
under-appreciated Edward Arnold. As Porifry, Arnold looks like Broderick
Crawford, but acts like Colombo. The haunting Romanian Tala Birell further
contributes to the film’s continental flavor as the exquisitely tragic Antonya.

It is hard to envision the 1930s studio system
truly plumbing the existential depths of a tortured Nineteenth Century Russian
crypto-anarchist, but thanks to Lorre’s bold performance, Sternberg’s
adaptation makes a pretty good go of it. Lorre fans will enjoy it for all the
reasons they relish his classic films co-starring opposite Sydney Greenstreet. Affectionately
recommended for classic film buffs, Crime
and Punishment is now available on DVD as part of Mill Creek Entertainment’s
Anniversary series.

About Me

J.B. (Joe Bendel) works in the book publishing industry, and also teaches jazz survey courses at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He has written jazz articles for publications which would be appalled by his political affiliation. He also coordinated instrument donations for displaced musicians on a volunteer basis for the Jazz Foundation of America during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Send e-mail to: jb.feedback "at" yahoo "dot" com.